“I can tell you, as a manager, that it does work like dominoes,” Poile said. “So there are probably more things in the works now than there was 24 hours ago. Whether that leads to any more completed deals, I don’t know that. But it certainly acts as a catalyst to try to move things along.”

Today’s trade that saw Gill swapped for Blake Geoffrion and Robert Slaney was the biggest of the pre-deadline period and took a coveted rental player off the market.

The Feb. 27 deadline is still 10 days away, but if you’re one of the numerous GMs seeking a veteran depth defenseman for the playoffs, your options are dwindling. The Ducks locked up Francois Beauchemin a month ago. The Hurricanes re-signed Tim Gleason. Ditto for the Oilers with Andy Sutton. Nicklas Grossman went to the Flyers yesterday.

Over at the Globe and Mail, James Mirtle has compiled a list of man-games lost to injury by all 30 NHL teams — and unsurprisingly, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Montreal Canadiens have topped the charts:

Rank

Team

GP

Pts

MGL

MGL/G

1

Pittsburgh

57

69

278

4.9

2

Montreal

58

56

279

4.8

3

NY Islanders

57

56

270

4.7

4

Buffalo

57

54

252

4.4

5

Columbus

57

40

252

4.4

6

Florida

56

65

244

4.4

7

Calgary

58

63

247

4.3

8

Winnipeg

59

60

238

4.0

9

St. Louis

57

77

229

4.0

10

Minnesota

57

59

219

3.8

11

Philadelphia

57

71

204

3.6

12

Edmonton

56

50

195

3.5

13

Vancouver

57

78

183

3.2

14

Toronto

58

64

183

3.2

15

New Jersey

56

68

176

3.1

16

Washington

56

61

175

3.1

17

NY Rangers

56

79

170

3.0

18

Colorado

58

60

174

3.0

19

Tampa Bay

57

56

168

2.9

20

Ottawa

60

68

165

2.8

21

Anaheim

57

57

156

2.7

22

Carolina

57

53

129

2.3

23

Dallas

57

61

120

2.1

24

Detroit

58

80

118

2.0

25

Los Angeles

58

65

112

1.9

26

Nashville

57

72

102

1.8

27

San Jose

55

69

97

1.8

28

Phoenix

58

65

93

1.6

29

Chicago

58

67

64

1.1

30

Boston

55

72

41

0.7

(MGL = Man Games Lost. MGL/G = Man Games Lost per Game.)

Only six Penguins have played all 57 games this year — Craig Adams, Matt Cooke, Steve Sullivan, Pascal Dupuis, Chris Kunitz and James Neal — and the team has dressed a whopping 34 different skaters. That said, the most staggering statistic is probably how Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Jordan Staal have combined to miss 99 games, yet Pittsburgh still finds itself fifth in the Eastern Conference, three points back of second-place Boston.

Montreal’s had a far tougher time coping with equally devastating injuries. Captain Brian Gionta has missed 27 games, $7 million-man Scott Gomez has missed 30, offensive defenseman Chris Campoli has missed 38 while Andrei Markov — arguably the team’s best blueliner and power play QB — has missed all 58 games while dealing with a re-occurring knee issue. Injuries are a big reason why Montreal has the NHL’s third-worst home record (11-12-8).

As for the healthiest teams? The defending Stanley Cup champion Bruins have been nothing short of remarkable, especially considering their short offseason. Over half the roster has played in at least 50 of 55 games, though the B’s have run into injury trouble lately with Nathan Horton (concussion) and Rich Peverley (MCL sprain) out for the foreseeable future.

Finally — it’s interesting to note that of the healthier teams, Anaheim and Carolina have failed to take advantage. The Ducks are an especially curious case given the big four — Teemu Selanne, Corey Perry, Bobby Ryan and Ryan Getzlaf — haven’t missed a game and goalie Jonas Hiller has made 51 appearances, second-most in the league.

In today’s mailbag column, TSN insider Darren Dreger referenced Montreal forward Travis Moen in four of his five responses to readers’ questions about potential trades. The only question that didn’t garner a Moen mention was about Tim Thomas not visiting the White House, though Moen didn’t go to the White House either, so that was an oversight by Dreger.

Here are the four Moen references:

…Vancouver could use some added toughness…someone like Travis Moen…

I’ve heard some rumblings, like the Canucks, Detroit will, or has shown some interest in Moen.

2. Pavel Kubina, Tampa Bay ($3.85 million) – Not the offensive defenseman he used to be, but won a Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2004. Can play 20 minutes a game if needed. Has a limited no-trade clause.

3. Tim Gleason, Carolina ($2.75 million) – Should be among the most sought after blue-liners. Gleason is one of the few plus players on the ‘Canes. Not afraid to get his nose dirty.

It was a special evening for Patrik Elias last night, and not just because his third-period marker proved the winning goal in New Jersey’s 5-3 win over Montreal.

No, it was much more than that.

The goal was No. 358 for the 35-year-old Czech, making him the all-time leading goalscorer in Devils franchise history. The goal put him past former teammate — and for 33 games, former head coach — John MacLean.

“It just feels nice,” Elias told NorthJersey.com. “It just feels that you’re doing something right, and it keeps me going. Hopefully, I have a lot more in me, but at this moment I’m enjoying it.”

Elias scored his first NHL goal on Dec. 12, 1996, in Boston against Bill Ranford in a 7-4 Devils’ victory. Since then he’s appeared in over 900 games for the Devils, the only NHL team he’s ever played for.

Following last night’s win, New Jersey GM Lou Lamoriello and head coach Peter DeBoer had high praise for their veteran associate captain, who now leads the franchise in goals, assists (497), points (845), power-play goals (96), game-winning goals (77), overtime goals (15) and hat tricks (8).

“He’s having himself a great year, and he’s had a great career,” Lamoriello said. “And he’s not done yet.”

“The guy’s a winner,” DeBoer added. “He’s one of the most competitive people I know and just wants to win.”